Friday July 9

Portland - Dianne's Tour

What a spectacular day today was!  We spent nearly the entire day with our friend Dianne who Kim and I taught with at Cypress Bay High School for many years until she retired and moved to Portland a little over a year ago.  It was just the best of days as we went all over the outskirts of Portland and even on some previously unknown winding roads & countryside that Dianne had never been on.  It was so great to see her and for the five of us to laugh and talk all day long!  

Kim and I were up early and were off to get coffee across the street.  When we got back Kim went to workout while I sat on the front porch and then the back porch enjoying the morning.  It was nippy, especially when Sue & Dan joined me along the riverside balcony and we looked at the mountains in the distance.  

I called about my luggage and was assured that it would be delivered this afternoon - it had been in New York at LaGuardia airport last night and had left for Chicago at 6 am this morning.  It arrived in the Windy City at 7:30 am and left there about 8 am and was scheduled to arrive in Portland before lunch.  I was told that in the worst case scenario Southwest was authorized to give me $600 A DAY for clothes and expenses for the cruise.....almost worth paying someone to lose my luggage :)  We headed to our rooms to get ready and reconvened in the lobby about 11 am where a shuttle was provided for us to Salty's Restaurant on the river where Dianne was meeting us.  We were particularly pleased to be going here as in 2013 Sue, Dan, Kim and I had been to a Salty's Restaurant on the harbor in Seattle as part of our Alaskan cruise adventure and it had been a fabulous experience.  We arrived and within minutes Dianne pulled up and we had a delightful lunch.  

We left after about 1 1/2 hours of eating, wine, and conversation for Hawks View Winery.  The weather changed several times on a dime - when we left it was very gray and raining, about 65 degrees.  When we arrived the sun was out and it felt about 80; then the clouds came, it began to rain lightly and the temperature dropped about 20 degrees; then it was over and it was in the upper 60s as we enjoyed our wide and the great views.  

We left here and headed to another winery, but the skies opened up and we decided to head back to Dianne's because she SAID it was very close by.  There are simply no words or descriptions that I can give you as we followed the GPS which took us all over greater Portland's wilderness around countless hairpin turns and up and down hills and valleys - we all laughed alot and I described it as an "E-Ticket Ride at Walt Disney World."  

This photo hardly and I mean HARDLY captures what the next 40 minutes were like as we were all around Dianne's neighborhood until finally we arrived.  And oh what a treat that was!  Dianne's home is the kind of home you'd see on an HGTV program and is so beautifully designed - the two interior photos are from her 2nd floor bedroom with the panoramic view of a nature preserve and out their living room window.  We had the most wonderful time there all afternoon visiting with Dianne and her oh-so-special mother.  

We were truly sorry to leave and I promised Dianne's Mom I'd come back for her homemade spaghetti!  We went to a local spot for what we thought would be a light dinner; Kim and Sue decided to split what they thought were two smaller/light fares - this is what they received.......

The food was delicious and the conversation was a continuation of the day-long laughter and stories.  By now it was after 7:30 pm and Dianne took us back into the city - along the way we crossed over one of Dianne's "favorite bridges" - this pic is for you Dianne :)

And we were soon back at the Red Lion Inn.  We said our very fond farewells and when I checked at the front desk, looked who'd decided to join us for the cruise!

HORRAY!  Tomorrow morning our cruise director will meet us in the lobby and we'll head down to the dock to board the Queen of the West and move into our staterooms.  We are very excited that tomorrow's "big event" is to set sail on our paddle-wheeler and sail for SEVEN hours westward to Astoria, the furthest westward point of the Lewis & Clark expedition!  Here we go!